"Of course, we are deeply disappointed that the request... A consular visit was rejected. We have signaled clearly and consistently that U.S. citizens detained abroad ... regular consular access of our staff was provided, "TASS quoted him as saying.
According to a State Department spokesman, the US administration will seek consular access to Gershkovich on a regular basis and will continue to call for the release of Paul Whelan.
The Russian Foreign Ministry previously noted that in connection with the disruption of the issuance of visas to media representatives from the journalistic pool of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who were supposed to accompany him on a trip to New York as part of the Russian presidency of the UN Security Council, it was decided to reject the request of the US Embassy for a consular visit to WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich on May 11.
The journalist was detained in Yekaterinburg on March 30. According to the FSB of Russia, on the instructions of the United States, he collected information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.